


don't stay here

by Kazutoes



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Emotional Abuse, Heavy Angst, I don't blame him, M/M, Sean is not a nice person in this, big on Mark and Dustin's friendship, mark is v emotional, ofc Eduardo shows up in the end, physical abuse (one instance), sean parker is an asshole, underage girls mention, what's me writing a fic without him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:28:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25279279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazutoes/pseuds/Kazutoes
Summary: Mark finally realized how much of a shitty boyfriend Sean is being, and does something about it.
Relationships: Sean Parker/Mark Zuckerberg
Comments: 9
Kudos: 19





	don't stay here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zodiacperalta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zodiacperalta/gifts).



> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> anyway I was sad one time and wrote the beginning of this fic in my best friends twitter dms and now both him and my girlfriend are mad at me for making them sad so if I die <3 sorry

He’s home alone again.

The house was silent as he looked around from his spot on the couch, the TV mute. His laptop was hanging on by a loose grip. His phone held in his other hand. 

It displayed a text from a few hours ago, Sean’s name right at that top. That message read that he would be home before dinner, and that was the end of that. But from Mark’s perspective, that was a complete lie. He already made dinner, got a shower, and watched their evening show together. And the time showed 9:37.

Closing his phone with a tight snap, he turned back to the terminal of code he was working on, his tired reflection showing in the black background. This was the 3rd night this week Sean had done this, and he couldn’t help but wonder why he put up with this. He was Mark Zuckerberg, for fuck’s sake. If he remembered correctly, he could buy out Mount Auburn street and turn it into his ping pong room, or something.

And with that thought brought even more pain- Eduardo. He hadn’t even thought about him for upwards of a year, more focused on his relationship with Sean and Facebook. Guess that’s what happens when you’re a CEO.

Closing off the painful train of thought, he looks up towards the TV, a news report showing a drug bust from one of the nearby fraternities. He shrugs before finally looking back towards the terminal, about to wire himself in when his phone rings.

“Sean?” He murmurs to himself, dark blue eyes jumping towards his phone. Picking it up quickly, he flips it open, a hello flying out of his lips as they turn into a smile.

“Hey, where were you- “He tries to say before Sean whispers a quiet “Mark?” The background noise was familiar. 

His heart drops towards the floor. A sick feeling floods his body as he sets his laptop off to the side, leaning forwards to cover his eyes.

It was just like that night, the one where Sean first got arrested for that party. That damned party. He remembers the cover-ups and the amount of worry he had for both Facebook and Sean.

“Babe, I really need your help,” Sean continues, not waiting for a response. “I’m at the PAPD, I- I was at a party, and I had no idea they snuck in drugs,”

He was so tired of _this_. The partying and the drugs. In the beginning, he was so sure he could get Sean to change. Feed him the responsibility of Facebook, of them being together. But after two years, he starts to wonder.

“I-I’ll call some people, just stay there okay?” He asks, tears starting to burn at his eyes. He was so done.

“I’ll be there to pick you up, don’t talk to anyone,” He says, his voice miraculously staying calm. It didn’t know the turmoil of the emotions he was feeling.

“Okay,” Sean replies. The inhale of his inhaler penetrates the chaos in the background. “Thank you so much, baby.”

Mark nods, repressing the urge to sob. He has a job to do, and that was to bury this under wraps as much as possible before the press got a hold of it.

“Of course,” Mark whispers, looking up towards the ceiling. “I’ll call you when I get there, all right?”

“Alright, I love you,” Sean says before hanging up. The house becomes silent once again as Mark sits there, running his hands through his hair.

“Okay,” He says, standing up. “Lawyers, PR, Dustin.”

Flipping open his phone again, he dials the legal team before heading into the bedroom, grabbing an old hoodie out of the closet to wear out of the house.

And to his luck, it’s the one he had from college. His old worn GAP hoodie, its threads fraying and loosening. He stares at it for a moment before hearing his phone.

“Hello?” Someone said, and Mark held up the phone to his ear, slotting into his cold CEO persona.

“This is Mark Zuckerberg calling…”  
\------  
15 minutes later everything was getting sorted out, and Mark closed his phone. By morning, everything would be fine and things would get covered up. Just like that first time. Interns would be fired, of course. New positions would open up just like that, and it would be the end of it.

He lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, shoving his hands into his pockets. Now all he had to do was pick up Sean.

And there was one last person he had to call.

He gets up and walks out of the room, grabbing his keys along the way.

In the living room, the TV is still on, muted from his coding session. The news story had switched to something else, relieving Mark somewhat. He turns it off before slipping on his shoes, opening the door. 

Walking out into the chilly night, he gets out his phone and dials Dustin’s number, hoping he’d be out of the office right now. Or at least be somewhere where they could talk privately.

When he gets into his car Dustin finally picks up, happiness radiating from his tone.

“Hey, Mark!” He says, speaking as soon as he answers.

“Hey,” Mark replies, his tired voice finally slipping through. After talking to all of those lawyers and PR people, he was somewhat glad he could talk normally again.

“Where are you?” He asks, pulling out of the driveway. There’s a rustle of bags in the background.

“Just got home from the office. Picked up some food along the way,” Dustin says, sounding concerned. “I heard you went home early today. What’s up?”

Mark decides to just get straight to the point, knowing Dustin wouldn’t let him bullshit around anymore. Not like he used to do.

“It’s Sean again,” He murmurs, gripping the steering wheel tighter than he probably should. “Got involved with another drug bust at a frat party.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Dustin shouts, angry. “What the fuck is wrong with him?”

He flinches at Dustin’s angry tone, hearing him apologize seconds later. “Sorry, sorry. But are you serious? Is he really still?”

“Yeah, he is,” He sighs, turning onto another road. “I’m heading to the station right now to pick him up,”

“He should have been with you all night!” Dustin exclaims, frustrated. “He left the offices around like 7, man. I thought maybe you guys had like a date going on.”

“Nope,” He replies, feeling himself get choked up once again. “Told me he would be home for dinner around 6 and then just called me like a half an hour ago. I saw the news report on the TV,”

“God that douchebag,” Dustin whispers, and for a second Mark couldn’t help but agree with him.

“Did you call the legal team?”

“Yeah, yeah I did before I left,” Mark nods before there was a lull of silence.

“I’m so sorry, Mark. You don’t deserve someone like him.”

And at that moment he felt like he would sob.

“Why would he lie? What was he planning to do?” He asks, his voice hitching. “Was he deliberately screwing with me to pacify me? I-I…”

“You need to break up with him,” Dustin says plainly, like they were talking about the weather. “If he cared about you, he wouldn’t be going to intern frat parties and leaving you home alone with no clue of his whereabouts. And don’t make me bring up the other stuff.”

“What other stuff?” He asks like he didn’t know. But several unbidden memories spring up in his mind. It was like a virus.

“You were never like this before you started dating him,” Dustin says, sounding tired and concerned. “I see the way you act around him, like you’re waiting for something. For something to change. You can’t change him, Mark. No matter how much you love him.”

“I-“

“I’ve even talked to Chris, and he says this isn’t healthy for you. I’m worried about you, man. Did… did you ever even love him in the first place?”

He nearly stops the car, his eyes widening.

“Of course I loved him!” He shouts, his heart pounding.

A moment of silence.

“You loved him,” Dustin says, sounding like his heart was breaking. “You loved him until everything started getting worse. He stayed out late more and left you alone, worrying about him. How he treats you, the way he talks about you is sickening, acting like he owns you. And I don’t even know what goes on while you guys are at home. You are your own person Mark, you are CEO of fucking Facebook and you shouldn’t be letting someone abuse you like this!”

“He isn’t abusing me!” He nearly screams, anger penetrating his tone. Dustin doesn’t respond.

He breathes in and out for a few moments before calming down, apologizing.

“I-I’m sorry, I- “He tries to say before Dustin spoke up again, his voice hard.

“Mark. I’m going to only say this once.” A moment passes by. “I care about you. I care about the asshole in a hoodie and flip-flops who didn’t take shit from anyone and made a website that impacted the world in his college dorm room. I’ve seen you at your highest highs and your lowest lows, I’ve been there through everything. I’m your best friend.”

Mark stays silent.

“The minute you and Sean hooked up, I knew something would go wrong. But you looked so happy, so I didn’t say anything. I’m sorry I let it go on this long,” Dustin murmurs, his voice breaking. “You have no idea how much it has been hurting me seeing you being abused by this douchebag. You don’t fucking deserve this Mark, he isn’t good for Facebook and you know it. How many more times will this have to happen until you finally realize this isn’t okay? How many more underage girls will he party with until you figure out he doesn’t care about you?”

Mark’s vision blurs as tears fill his eyes, breathing slowly. “H-He cares about me,”

“When’s the last time he’s done something for your relationship?” Dustin asks, his voice calm. “Do you know where he is when he doesn’t return home until late? What if he’s cheating on you, or hell, maybe even only staying with you because of your status? I read about the lawsuits.”

“He made me who I am!” He replies indignantly, ignoring the violent pang in his chest. “Without him, we would still be struggling at Harvard to run theFacebook!”

“But you’d still be with Eduardo, wouldn’t you?” Dustin asks quietly.

“Don’t you dare talk about him,” Mark growls, tempted to just hang up on Dustin. “He was the one who wanted to run ads, not Sean! He wasn’t with us in Palo Alto while Sean was getting us angel investors. He helped with everything…”

“And made you feel like you are indebted to him? You aren’t. You never were. The only thing he ever gave to you was dropping the ‘the’ and helping with the investors. And even that was for revenge. Was it ever really to help you?”

“I-He,” Mark struggles to find the words he wants to say, but he can’t. Maybe Dustin had a point, maybe it all was just manipulation. Was him falling in love just a part of the plan too? Was Sean just leading him along, like he was some toy?

Was it all just a lie?

“I hate hurting you like this, Mark,” Dustin murmurs. “But I need you to realize that he is abusing you, hell even manipulating you. You realize that emotional abuse is a thing, right?”

“D-Dustin,” He says, tears finally falling down his cheeks. “I-“

“I’m not forcing you to do anything you don’t want to do, but.. please, for me Mark. Break up with him once and for all. I’ll lock him out of the system so he can’t even bother you on your own website.”

Mark laughs wetly, seeing the police station close by. “I think I can handle that myself,” He says, dark blue eyes glistening in the city lights.

“Yeah, I know you can,” Dustin softly laughs, before silence filled their conversation once again.

Mark pulls into the filled parking lot, sighing. “Hey, I’ll call you back later, okay? I just got here.”

“Alright. Call me if he gets violent, okay? I’ll be over there so fast…” Dustin trails off, not even wanting to believe in that possibility. Mark nods.

“I will. Thanks, man.” He says, wiping the tears away from his eyes. It was a surprise he was able to get here uninjured.

“No problem. See ya,” Dustin replies before hanging up, leaving Mark alone.

And back at Dustin’s apartment, he sets his phone down onto the counter before feeling himself start to sob, his heart shattering into pieces.

“God, Mark, I’m so sorry,” He murmurs, soft hiccups filling the air. After a moment he swipes his phone off the counter again, and with blurry vision, he pulls up his starred contacts.

As the phone dials he looks up to the ceiling he prays to god Sean doesn’t do anything to hurt Mark, or else he would make sure Sean would regret ever meeting Mark.

“Dustin?” The voice spoke, sleepy. Dustin can feel a new set of sobs coming on.

“Chris, I…” He breathes in, attempting to calm himself down.

“I feel like such a horrible person…”  
\--------

The waiting room was empty.

With the multitudes of cars outside, he expected something more full- angry parents, maybe. Or frankly upset boyfriends. Oh, wait. That was just him.

Approaching the desk, he prepares to pull out his ID, wondering what he should say. The last time, Amy was the one who got Sean, not him. It wasn’t like he could just call her up and ask her for pointers now. He shouldn’t even have to do this in the first place, but here he was at 10:30 pm bailing out Sean.

What had his life gotten to?

“Hey-“ He says, his voice soft. “I’m here to pick up Sean Parker?”

The lady stares at him for a moment before turning towards her computer, thankfully not recognizing him. She types something in before a name pops up, and a call code.

“Looks like he just got released. He’ll be out in a moment, honey.” She says, turning to him and writing something on some paperwork. She must’ve seen the look of him, his face still red and eyes puffy. Damnit.

Alexis- the name he read on her name tag- places a paper on the desk and hands him a pen.

“Just need to sign here to complete the process,” Alexis says. He quickly signs his name and hands it back to her, wiping off his eyes again. He doesn’t need Sean to see him this way. Not again.

“Thank you.”

Mark nods, before turning to go to a seat and wait. It only takes a few minutes before the door opens, revealing Sean and an officer. He stands up.

“Mark!” Sean says, before practically launching himself into his arms. “Thank you so much,” He says, wrapping his arms around his waist. Mark couldn’t help but feel somewhat sick.

“Hey,” He breathes, letting Sean kiss him. “Ready to go?”

“Definitely,” He says, getting handed his inhaler back by the officer. 

“You two be good now, okay?” The officer says before walking away, leaving both Sean and Mark alone again. 

“Come on,” Mark says, walking out the door. Sean catches up beside him, and they walk out together.

“Thank God you parked close, my feet are killing me,” He moans, launching himself into the car with a flourish. At any other point, Mark would have laughed. But now, he could barely make a smile.

He gets into the car himself and turns on the ignition, settling back into his seat. He had a feeling this would be a long car ride.

“Are you okay?” Sean asks, his jovial mood now punctuated with worry.

“No,” he thought, remembering his tears on the way here. _“No, I’m not, you asshole.”_

“Yeah,” He sighs, turning out towards the road. Sean turns on the radio and puts down his window, seemingly relaxed and at ease. As if he didn’t just get arrested.

Their short-lived conversation grows silent as they head back, Mark’s thoughts going at ten thousand miles per hour.

And just like his thoughts, a snack of thunder goes off, the sky starting to pour with crystal rain. The windshield wipers turn on and Sean closes his window, only the radio filling the silence now.

He looks towards Sean, his carefree posture almost pissing him off.

He was done waiting around.

His heart pounds as he speaks, his voice soft against the now pounding rain.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

Sean stills and turns his head towards Mark, his eyes still on the road.

“What?”

“The drugs. Almost every frat party these days has them.” He replies, his long fingers drumming on the steering wheel. Hopefully, they wouldn’t reveal his nervousness.

Sean scoffs. “Of course I didn’t babe,” He says, turning his head towards the window. “I was just told there was just going to be an afterparty for our next 10 million members, and I had to go.”

“Dustin told me that party would be tomorrow,” Mark says, his heart slowly breaking. Why was he still lying? “You told me you would be home before dinner,”

“Look, I’m sorry okay? I really was until Stacey approached me with a party and you know how I am!” Sean says, starting to get angry. “It wasn’t like I couldn’t say no!”

“So you would accept an invitation from Stacey but you wouldn’t come home to stay with your boyfriend?” He asks, his now seldom used snarky voice starting to slot in place. Now he knows which intern to fire first, if she wasn’t already.

“I didn’t think you’d mind, okay?!” Sean shouted, slapping his hands onto his lap. “I thought you’d just wire in like you’d always do and I could come home like usual! That’s how our dynamic goes!”

Wire in? Wire in?!

“I waited almost 5 hours for you to get home before I even fucking considered wiring in!” He shouts, tempted to just stop the car and let him out. “I was just about to wire in before I saw the drug bust ON TV! Do you know how that feels?!”

"Oh, so I have to be sorry you’re a sentimental person?! You should know this by now that I don’t go by the rules!”

“Sean, when we started dating, I-I thought that maybe you’d settle down or put me first instead of partying,” Mark says, hurt pouring from his voice. Sean tsks, looking towards the floor.

“I guess you thought wrong then,” Sean mumbles, leaving Mark shocked.

“So you’re telling me you don’t care about me at all? Or wait, no, you don’t care about Facebook? You can’t keep doing this either way, the reputation of the company is at stake!”

“No, it isn’t! We have lawyers and PR now, nobody can touch us!” Sean says, a pleading look in his eyes. “And don’t you dare say I don’t care about you!”

“Well, it sure doesn’t seem like it when you’re out partying with barely-of-age interns out in the night while I’m at home waiting for you,” He says, pounding his hand on the steering wheel.

Sean doesn’t reply.

Mark’s heartbeat slows as the drive went on, panic and nausea beginning to settle deep into his stomach. He just couldn’t say the words, those 6 words that would mean so much.

“Well, you didn’t seem to care about me when you spent all those nights in the office,” Sean says a few minutes later, pouting like a petulant child. Mark gasps.

“In the off- I am the CEO of a company!” Mark says, turning his head towards Sean. “Don’t you remember? ‘I’m CEO, bitch!’”

“Yeah, whatever,” Sean says, his head turning towards the window. Mark frowns before turning his eyes back to the road. Maybe Sean was right, maybe he spent too much time at the office. But there was just so much to be done. It wasn’t like he couldn’t help it.

“You could’ve told me I’ve been spending too much time at the office,” Mark says a moment later, against his thoughts. “I would have listened.”

Sean scoffed. “Too late for that now, isn’t it?”

Mark remembers Dustin’s words about how Sean acts like this. Where it felt like he couldn’t win any fight at all with him, no matter how big or small it was.

They were near home soon. Tense silence filled the air. And he still couldn’t say the words that he probably should have said long ago. 

Sean looked pissed off as ever, making Mark rethink his actions. He probably was stuck to the couch tonight, as he would rather stay away from Sean’s rage instead of throwing himself into the fire. It wasn’t worth it. Not anymore.

And just like that, they were finally home, Mark’s anxiety growing worse. He had a feeling something would happen tonight, and it wouldn’t be good.

Sean exits the car a moment later, slamming the door behind him. He pulls out his phone, sending Dustin a quick text. He might be overreacting, but it didn’t hurt to be safe. Even though he lived by the words move fast and break things.

Even if that included his breaking heart.

He gets out of the car soon after, watching Sean slam the front door shut.

The rain had slowed down, only a light drizzle hitting his clothes as he walks toward the door.

He puts his hand on the doorknob lightly before slowly twisting it, opening the door quietly.

Sean is standing there, angrily taking off his coat. He was looking at the TV, the drug bust news story on again.

Mark stepped in slowly, closing the door behind him. He didn’t want to deal with Sean’s wrath, not tonight.

“Is this what you saw on TV?!” Sean asks, turning to Mark. He looked livid.

“Y-yeah.” He says, putting his hands inside his hoodie to hide his anxiety.

“Jesus,” Sean swears under his breath, turning towards the kitchen counter. “You called the lawyers, right?”

“I did,” He nods, still standing in place.

Sean rubs his face with his hands, anxiety pouring from his stance.

“Why do you keep doing this, Sean?” Mark asks, a soft sigh escaping his lips. “I don’t want to deal with this anymore, do you?”

Sean shoots him a look. “The fuck you mean, Mark?”

He walks up to Sean. “The drugs, the girls,” Listing them off one by one, Eduardo’s words pop back up in his head, hurt penetrating his chest.

“Why do you care so much!?” Sean yelled, slamming his hand down onto the counter. “Where’s the Mark I knew who didn’t care, who just wired in all the time?!”

“Because I’m dating you, you asshole! I always cared!” Mark yells back, his eyes narrowing.

“Weren’t you going to break up with me?” He sneered, backing up. Mark froze in place.

He didn’t think it would turn out this way. It would have made more sense to wait until they were both calm. But here they were instead, arguing at 11 o’clock at night.

“God, no wonder Eduardo left,” Sean mumbles, turning around. “So he wouldn’t have to deal with this bullshit all the time…”

Mark got angrier. “Shut the fuck up! You barely knew him!”

He felt his breathing get faster as Sean turned back around, a smirk on his face.

“I knew you kicked him out of the company, that was for sure. Going to do the same to me?”

That was it. He was so sick of this bullshit.

“Kicking him out was your idea!” Mark nearly screams, throwing down the keys. “You kept telling me he was bad for the company, that advertisers would ruin Facebook. I believed you! It…”

A startling realization rushed through him.

“You wanted Eduardo gone, didn’t you?” Mark whispers. “That’s why you told me we should dilute his stocks, betray him.. A-and I went along with it because I was so angry…”

Sean laughs. “Finally get it, Mark? Or course I wanted him gone. He was going to ruin it.”

“That was my best friend…” Mark continues, the anger dissipating into complete sadness.

“I’d rather have pop-ups for Mountain Dew on the site just so he would still be here.”

Sean rolls his eyes. “If it weren’t for me, Facebook would be nothing.”

His eyes narrowed. “Nothing? He was the one who gave me the money to start it up. It was our thing, and you ruined it!”

Mark takes a moment to breathe. Ignoring Sean’s pointed glare, he went on.

“And the worst thing? He wouldn’t be running around going to frat parties and getting high, would he?! He would be at home with me being a loving boyfriend instead of treating me like _shit!_ ”

He can hear the door opening before feeling a sharp pain on the side of his cheek, stumbling backward.

“Fuck you, Mark Zuckerberg,” Sean whispers. “If you care much about him, why don’t you just date him instead?” before walking out, pushing aside Dustin.

“Mark?!” Dustin asks, running towards him.

“Dustin?” Mark murmured in reply, turning around to see Sean slam the door shut.

Dustin whimpered. “Oh God, let me see,” He pulled Mark’s hand off of his cheek to see a furious red mark, one that surely was going to bruise.

“Is it bad?” He asks, watching as Dustin winces. He still feels in shock.

“Yeah,” Dustin nodded, pulling Mark into a hug. It only took a few moments before tears slip down his face.

This was it. It was the end of their relationship. It ended more horrifically than he ever thought possible, and now he has to deal with the fallout.  
Like he did with…

“I’m so sorry, Mark,” Dustin says, clenching him tightly. He can feel Dustin’s tears soaking into his hoodie. “I’m so so sorry,”

Mark buries his head into Dustin’s shoulder, ignoring the sting of fabric on his irritated cheek. His heart feels like it was just split in half and then shattered.

“Dustin,” He sobs, his thoughts going a million miles a minute.

They stood there for a while, deriving comfort from each other as they both fell apart.  
\---  
“You know he will have to be kicked out of the company, right?” Dustin asks, bringing Mark a frozen bag of ice. The bright red mark on his face had already faded into a light shade of purple. 

He’d prefer not to think about it right now. “Yeah.”

“And you might have to get more lawyers to cover me when I beat the shit out of him,” Dustin continues, sitting back down. “I’ll even get Chris on it too, if I have to.”

Mark shakes his head. “No. I think kicking him out will be enough.”

He’s thankful the ice is a welcome distraction.

Dustin stays silent for a moment. “You think you’re going to be okay for tonight? I don’t mind if you crash at my place, you know. Or until you can get the locks changed.”

Shrugging, he deadpans, “I’ll be fine. I don’t think he’s the type to come and murder me in my sleep.”

“You never know,” Dustin whispers, holding up his hands in a ‘spooky’ motion. Mark looks away.

“Thank you,” He says, tugging at a fraying thread on his hoodie. “For everything.”

If it weren’t for Dustin, he probably would still be with Sean right now. Miserable. Or probably worse off.

Dustin gives him a bittersweet smile. “Hey man, it’s alright. That’s what friends do.”

Mark looks up. “I suppose you’re the super-no-longer-expendable-programmer, huh?”

“You know it.” Dustin grins. He stands up, yawning.

“Alright, I better head home. As much as I’d love to chat, I have to be at the office by 8,”

Dustin grabs his phone and keys.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” He asks, patting Mark on the shoulder. He nods.

“I will.” He murmurs, putting down the ice. It was supposed to help with the swelling, but now his face is cold and hurts. So much for the facts.

“I’ll see ya,” Dustin says, walking out the door. When it closes, the room fills with silence once more.

It was almost deafening.

He takes a few moments before he finally gets up, bringing the ice and blanket with him. All he wanted right now was his bed.

Locking the doors (and double-checking), Mark finally heads up to now what is his room, closing the door behind him.

His breath hitches again once he realizes he’s now alone once more, tears pooling in his vision once again. Damnit.

He falls into the soft duvet, hand covering his eyes as he sobs once more, hurt filling his entire body. It almost wasn’t real. He couldn’t help but feel so broken.

And there was still the topic of Eduardo. How much he wanted to tell him, how he didn’t know what Sean was doing. How he was just a clueless teenager in the wicked world of business.

And how sorry he was.

Dimly realizing he still has his phone on him, he pulls it out and scrolls to Eduardo’s contact number, still saved in there.

He doesn’t even deserve Eduardo’s forgiveness. But he wanted to try, anyway.

Before the darkness of sleep overwhelmed him, he typed out one last message, not even knowing if it was sent.

“I’m so sorry, Eduardo.”

And with that, the world fades away, sweeping him away with it.  
\---  
It had been a week since that night.

Sean had been kicked out of the company (for what everyone else knew, unknown reasons). Dustin still looked after him like he was still some porcelain doll, despite his never-ending threats to fire him.

And it was the day of the shareholders’ meeting.

He and Eduardo had been talking for a little over email, albeit stilted and awkward. It was a coincidence that the meeting was so soon, but Mark couldn’t help but feel grateful.

The bruise has finally went down, hidden as him falling down some stairs. They believed him, and life went on.

At the end of the meeting, Eduardo walks up to him, looking as professional as ever.

“Mark,” He says, getting his attention. Mark turns around.

“Eduardo?” He asks, not able to believe it. Before everything, he figured that the next time they met, Eduardo would have killed him.

But things weren’t normal now, were they?

Eduardo is drawn to the dark spot on his cheek, his brown eyes turning sad.

“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?” He asks.

Mark nods. “Yeah. We do.”

They didn’t know what would happen. A lot of things had led to this, and god knows how long it would take until they both would get over what happened.

But they would make the effort to try.


End file.
